Friday, May 28, 2010

There are many parents who are unaware of their children's activities for a number of reasons; households with two working parents, at times, are unable to keep an eye on their children. What if parents had the ability to monitor what kind of things are going into their child's system when they are not around, like drugs and alcohol? Should parents be able to put monitors on their children to determine if they are drinking or using drugs? There are some parents that do.

The parents, who feel like monitoring should be an option, got the idea from Lindsay Lohan. If alcohol-monitoring bracelets can alert authorities when she is drinking; then parents could also be alerted when their child is drinking. The bracelets use Breathalyzer technology that reads alcohol from your perspiration not your breath. The bracelet tests the skin every half hour, if alcohol is in one's sweat, it causes a chemical reaction in the device's fuel cell; the information is sent via telephone to the Alcohol Monitoring Systems who in turn alert the proper authorities if alcohol is detected at a blood-alcohol level of 0.02 or higher.

Right now, Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc. is the only company who makes the bracelet and they are only being sold to the courts and probation officers. As far as parents go, "That might be a market down the road," said Kathleen Brown, a spokeswoman for Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc. SCRAM was the name given to the bracelet (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring) and they have been available since 2003, they have been used in every state except Hawaii. Brown said SCRAM costs about $1,500 and has been worn by 136,000 people, for an average of 90 days, according to Daily News.

What are your thoughts, should we be monitoring our kids with SCRAM bracelets?